


Prince's Peace

by Lumelle



Series: The Comforted King [2]
Category: The Hobbit (Jackson Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Everyone Lives/Nobody Dies, Body Paint, Fluff, M/M, Pre-Slash
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-23
Updated: 2016-01-23
Packaged: 2018-05-15 19:31:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,863
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5797054
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lumelle/pseuds/Lumelle
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Giving Fíli more tasks may mean a less stressful life for Thorin, but for Fíli, it's the opposite. Ori is quite concerned with the way Fíli is tiring himself, and may have to get devious about it.</p><p>This is something Fíli may want to consider when he speaks with Thorin about his future choices.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Prince's Peace

**Author's Note:**

> **Please note** that this fic references a dom/sub relationship based on cultural expectations, though everything happens with mutual consent. Please read accordingly.

"Fíli?"

Fíli looked up from his desk at the sound of Ori's voice. Well, what passed for his desk; he doubted Ori would have graced it with such a name when it was basically just a collection of papers and various odds and ends piled up on something that had once been a table when he'd actually been able to see it. It had been nice and tidy for perhaps a few days after it had been brought into his rooms, but had steadily disappeared under the bits and pieces that made up his princely duties. "Ori. What are you doing here so late?"

"I was just bringing you some papers." Ori stepped inside and pushed the door closed behind himself, casual as though there was nothing special about walking around the royal section without having been expressly invited. It had not been that long ago that Ori had conscientiously waited for a guard to rush to get Fíli's permission to enter, until they had both gotten tired of that and Fíli had simply had a quick word with the guards. Ori was learning the duties of a royal scribe alongside Fíli learning his own as a prince, which had led to him often assisting Fíli with his duties much the same as Balin did for Thorin. And, since neither of them had an actual office unlike their older counterparts, things did get a bit tricky if Ori couldn't come to him without being stopped every single time.

That this made Ori one of precisely two people in the mountain allowed to simply walk past the guards without actually being part of or betrothed to any member of the royal family, the other one being Dwalin as the head of the royal guards, was clearly irrelevant to anything at all, and Kíli could just stop his smirking, thank you.

"Ah, thank you." Fíli tried to stifle a yawn as he straightened from where he had been slumped over his desk. Not that he'd been sleeping, no, that would have been much easier. He was very much awake, just slowly losing his will to live. "What's that? The notes from the meeting today?"

"Right. I marked all the sections I thought were especially important, but you should probably go through it all at least briefly, just in case. You know, when you have the time."

"I will." Fíli nodded as he took the papers from Ori, somehow managing not to chuckle disparagingly. It wasn't Ori's fault that he rarely seemed to have time for anything anymore.

"You should be going to bed." Ori frowned in a way that rather reminded Fíli of Dori. It was oddly endearing, he decided. "You're meeting Balin tomorrow morning, and Thorin wanted to speak with you at some point, and then you have a guild inspection in the afternoon. You can't be dead on your feet for those."

"That's easier said than done." Fíli sighed, running a hand over his hair. "I actually tried earlier, when I was sure I was done with everything that absolutely has to be done today. But as soon as I get to bed I start to worry about all the other things I should be doing, and whether I've prepared enough for the things that are still coming, and then I couldn't sleep at all even though I am really tired."

"Well, you're not helping things at all by being here. I can't imagine what you could do about your work when you're so exhausted." Ori seemed to consider something for a moment, then nodded, as though he had come to some conclusion. "Well, if you're not going to go to sleep anyway, could I ask you a favour? It's… kind of a strange one."

"Oh?" Fíli lifted his eyebrows. "I'm all ears. I'm quite curious to hear what you'd consider to be strange."

"Well, I just recently got these new paints, you see, and I haven't had the time to try them out yet. And, well, the merchant I bought them from said it doesn't matter if they get on skin, since they're easy to wash away. And then I got this idea, but I can't exactly ask just anyone, and…"

"What is it?" Somehow Fíli got the feeling he should have already figured it out, but his head wasn't exactly working right. It was like his head was filled with wool.

Heh. Wool. Ori would have liked that, no doubt.

"Would you let me paint on you?" The words left Ori in a kind of a rush, and as he'd said them all, he flushed a little, clutching the small bag that Fíli knew held his writing supplies and whatever knitting project he was working on at the moment. It was a nice little bag, made by a master leatherworker, and Fíli happened to know it had been a gift by Nori. He'd made light of how it was the first thing he'd ever bought his little brother with honestly earned gold, but the suspicious moistness in Dori's eyes hadn't been a joke.

"I… what?" Fíli blinked. He wasn't entirely sure he'd heard right. "You want to do what?"

"Paint on you." The flush persisted, but Ori seemed calm enough, not about to bolt any moment as he no doubt would have just some months previous. They'd grown to know each other on the journey, sure, but even after retaking the mountain it had still taken Ori a while to stop thinking of Fíli as a prince sometimes. Funnily enough, working with Fíli on his princely duties seemed to have helped with that, perhaps because it had allowed Ori to see that being royalty was mostly comprised of a lot of dull work and the occasional bout of suppressed curses. "I mean, of course you don't have to. It's just, I'm a little curious, and since you're clearly too tired to work or do much else but you can't get to sleep…" He trailed off now, looking oddly hopeful.

"You thought I might play canvas for you." Fíli thought about that for a moment, but his tired mind could not really come up with any arguments against that. "Fine, it's not like I have anything better to do. How should we do this?"

"Oh! Well, ah. Your back would probably be the best? If that's all right with you, of course. I mean, your chest is kind of hairy." Ori's blush intensified, now, and Fíli was too tired to entirely suppress the smirk that drew out of him. "And you should probably lie down. I mean, I'm not sure how the paint will behave on skin, and it might run if you're sitting up."

"Well, it's not like you're planning to make some sort of a permanent work on my skin, anyway. Is it?" Not that Fíli was against the idea of tattoos, had been thinking of getting one for a while now — he was a warrior, after all, despite all the princely stuff, it was practically expected of him, even Thorin had a couple — but he was reasonably sure those involved more than just paints.

"No, but I'd still like to at least try to make something pretty." And really, how could he say no to those eyes?

"I guess the bed's our best bet, then." He stood up, and once again couldn't resist a smirk. "Assuming you're not afraid of coming to my bedchamber, that is."

Somewhat to his surprise, Ori just snorted. "I think I've dragged you out of bed often enough that any mystique that might have held is long gone by now." He nodded, then. "Let's go."

Well, Fíli had never been one to back down once his mind was set, was too much of a prince of Durin for that. He led the way to his bedchamber, starting to take off his tunic on the way. Once they got there he quickly shed the tunic and the shirt underneath, quietly enjoying the way the tips of Ori's ears turned just a little bit pink. "So, you want my back, huh?"

"If you would." Ori nodded. "Ah. I need to get some water for the paints, if that's all right?"

Fíli nodded. "Knock yourself out. The bathroom's behind that door, there should be some sort of a cup or a bowl there, too." And really, he should have been more precise about that, but he was too exhausted to care about such details.

He stretched himself out on his stomach on the bed, still too wired from the day to truly relax. Ori came back not too much later, dragging a chair from the corner next to the bed. Fíli half expected him to sit down on it, but instead he set down the small bowl of water and then the paints and brush he dug out of his bag. "Ah. Is it okay if I sit here?"

Fíli blinked, taking a moment to realise Ori was referring to the edge of the bed. He managed a small nod. "Yeah, sure, go ahead."

"Thanks." Ori settled next to Fíli, close enough that his body heat seemed to radiate to Fíli's bare skin even through the layers Ori was still wearing. It became even clearer when Ori reached a hand to brush Fíli's hair over his shoulders and away from his back, gently moving each lock of hair even as his fingertips left burning trails along Fíli's skin.

If Ori's fingers had been warm, the next sensation of the wet paint was almost too cold. Fíli shivered, then tried to focus on being still. After the first couple of brush strokes he got somewhat used to it, though, and didn't tense all over again at every new touch.

"Easy," Ori murmured after a moment. "It's not going to hurt you."

"I know that." Still, he made a concentrated effort not to be quite so stiff. It wasn't as difficult as it could have been, really. The feeling of the brush on his skin was quite calming, leaving behind a trail of cool wetness that slowly dried until Ori's brush came across it again. The heat of Ori's body at his side didn't go anywhere, and he could only barely keep himself still instead of moving closer. Goodness knew Ori wouldn't have been happy if he'd ruined whatever picture was being painted by moving suddenly.

At some point Ori started to hum, a calm little tune that seemed to be perfectly in time with the strokes of the brush. No, that was wrong, of course it was the brush strokes that were in time with the song, had to be. Fíli found his mind lazily tracking the rhythm of it, anticipating the next bit of paint added to his skin, thrown off by the occasional touch as Ori brushed aside the odd remaining strand of hair before moving on to a new area.

He wasn't sure when he drifted off, but the soft sound of Ori's humming followed him into his dreams, chasing away any shadows that might have been lurking about and replacing them with soft colours layered upon bare skin, over and over and over, until Ori's paint covered him like a blanket.

*

When Fíli woke up, he was alone.

For a moment he lay still, listening for any sounds of life around him. There was none, though the crackling of the fire suggested someone had added fuel just recently. After waiting a bit longer, he finally gave up, sitting up and looking around properly.

Ori was nowhere to be seen, though he had apparently drawn the covers properly over Fíli before he left. The other side of the bed looked like it had been slept on, though, and there was a note on the pillow. Fíli rubbed at his eyes with one hand as he reached for the note.

_"Fíli,_

_You were still sleeping soundly when I woke up, and you seemed really exhausted last night, so I decided to let you sleep a little longer. I'll get Kíli to take over your meeting this morning, and check back in if you're not up by noon. Don't forget Thorin wanted to see you at some point today!_

_I cleaned up your back last night, so don't worry about that. There are some clothes on the dresser that should be suitable for your schedule today. Please try to remember to brush your hair._

_I'll see you at lunch._

_-Ori"_

Fíli blinked at the letter, then shook his head with a little smile. Of course Ori would take it upon himself to arrange things as he pleased. He suspected it was Dori's influence rearing its head.

There were indeed clean clothes set out for him, and from the glimpse he caught in the mirror his back was indeed bare of any decoration. It was almost a pity, really; he wouldn't have minded seeing what Ori had painted on him. Perhaps he would design a tattoo for Fíli if asked nicely enough.

He put on the clothes Ori had chosen, then went on to brush his hair while he picked up his weapons. One of his knives seemed to be missing, and he had looked just about anywhere before he finally found it, affixing another note to a table in the receiving room.

_"Eat something!_

_-Ori"_

Well, the message was clear enough. Fíli chuckled as he slipped the knife into its sheath and picked up a couple of the apples that had been left right next to the note. Biting into one, he headed out of his rooms, somewhat dreading what was to come. Even if Ori had managed to get Kíli to fill in, Thorin was sure to have noticed that Fíli wasn't seeing to his duties.

He found Thorin near the great forges, overseeing the efforts to repair more of them and make them ready for use. They'd been starting small since the retaking of the mountain, starting up only one of the forges at the time, and only after it had been ascertained they were not too damaged from Smaug's rampage and everything that had followed. The last thing they needed was something cracking or breaking the moment the fires got hot enough.

"Ah, Fíli." Thorin nodded as Fíli walked closer, then turned back to look at the rushing workers. He didn't seem too bothered by the fact that Fíli should have been meeting Balin right now. "You've woken up, then?"

"I'm sorry." He really had no excuse. Sure, Ori had failed to wake him, but that didn't matter when Fíli should have woken up without any aid in the first place. "I didn't mean to sleep so late."

"That's fine. Ori told me you were working hard late last night and needed to sleep in." There was no judgement in Thorin's tone, nothing but a casual statement, so either he didn't know that Ori had stayed the night or he didn't care. Not that there was anything to care about, of course, nothing had happened after all. "You have been looking a bit tired lately. You know you can tell me if you have too much to do, right? The purpose is for you to learn your duties little by little, not to drive yourself to exhaustion."

Fíli should have said it was fine, that he was fine, that everything was going just fine and he'd just had one late night. Instead, what came out was, "Yes, because it's so much better for you to exhaust yourself instead."

"Fíli." Now, Thorin turned to give his full attention to Fíli, and even now, as a grown dwarf instead of a little dwarfling who expected a lecture for stealing a cookie or somesuch, that made him shiver a little. "I mean it. I do not want you to exhaust yourself because you think you need to do so for my sake. There are other people who can do these things, as Ori seems to have noticed, given that he asked Kíli to fill in. There is little point in my teaching your duties if you end up tired out long before you can even take the throne. And even if you made it that far, what then? If you haven't learnt to delegate your tasks before that, how will you handle it when the main duty rests upon you?"

"I can't believe you're telling me this." Which was probably not the most respectful answer to his uncle and king, but it was the true one, at least. "You wouldn't give me anything to do before Bilbo made you."

"I never said I was any less foolish. If I note some flaw in you, it's because I recognise it from myself." Thorin gestured for him to follow, leading them further away from the workers into the quieter area to the side. "I see a lot of myself in you, Fíli. Most of the time it makes me feel proud, yet other times, it worries me."

"I have learnt a lot from you." Had spent his life chasing after his uncle's shadow.

"A lot that I might wish you never had." Thorin shook his head. "I am not the one you ought to emulate, Fíli. My mistakes are many, and I suspect the list will be much longer by the time I pass the throne on to you, whether that be by choice or circumstance. And while I may not always be able to advise you, I hope at least I can stop you before you go too far down this path."

"I'm fine, uncle. I was just tired."

"And how long have you been tired? I've seen the shadows under your eyes in the past weeks, have noticed your good cheer growing less so. For all that I fought to gain this throne, I would not pass it on at the cost of your happiness." Thorin's lips twitched, but his eyes were sad. "I miss your smile, Fíli."

"I'm sorry." Really, it was the only thing he could say. "I'll get used to it, I promise. I just need —"

"What you need is a break. Just as I needed one before Bilbo showed me how foolish I had been." Thorin's hand reached up to his throat to touch the collar set here. It was some of his best work, if Fíli said so himself. Er, thought so himself. "I suppose it's about the time we have a talk. Bilbo thinks I should have brought this up with you a long time ago, but for various reasons I've been putting it off. It seems we have now come to the point where I can't do so any longer."

Fíli paused. "Please tell me this is not some sort of 'a tumble in the bed helps you relax' talk." Hadn't they already gone over this when he'd been fifty or so? Or, well, at least the general concept of bedmates, expanding on the even earlier talk of where children came from. He wasn't sure either of them was yet recovered from that one.

"Yes and no." This time, when Thorin's lips twitched it was in actual amusement. "No, I'm not about to repeat any of our previous talks, don't worry. Just. This has to do with your choice of a spouse, when the time comes for that."

"I'm not sure that's actually any better." But he was going to listen, anyway. At least if it was something Bilbo thought should be said, it probably wouldn't be too embarrassing. Well. At least not just embarrassing.

"You know the title Bilbo received when he married me, right? Besides the royal consort, of course."

Fíli nodded. Of course he knew that much. "King's Comfort, right?"

"Indeed." Thorin nodded in response. "And do you know what that means?"

"If there's some special meaning to it, I'm not aware of it."

This time, Thorin's nod was more measured. "It does have a meaning, yes. It means that it is his responsibility to take care of me, to make sure I don't push myself too hard, to see that I don't become lost in my duties. The collar I wear is a symbol of that. When we are in our rooms, I will obey his every word, because I know he means to care for me, even when I don't immediately agree with him."

"Everything?" Fíli lifted his eyebrows. That… surprised him. Sure, he knew Thorin went out of his way to please Bilbo sometimes, when he wasn't in a particularly stubborn mood anyway, but it was hard to imagine Thorin actually obeying someone as a rule.

"Aye. Of course, if something he commanded truly distressed me, I trust he would stop. I need to be able to trust him in that, or I could not give him my heart as I do. And at the same time, we both know I obey as a choice. You made the collar, you know its design. You know that while Bilbo holds the key, I could open it at any time I like."

"I know." He'd spent quite a while finding the perfect chain and the perfect length, so that it would hold the collar firmly shut yet break as needed. "And… that's normal?"

"It's the task of a King's Comfort, always has been; to rule the King in their home so that they might rule elsewhere. In tradition, the same extends to the crown prince. It was the duty my mother fulfilled for my father, though he never took the throne." Thorin placed a hand on Fíli's shoulder. "I cannot force you to take part in the tradition, of course. It has to be about choice, or it is all meaningless. However, I know that wearing Bilbo's collar grounds me like nothing else does, and I can trust him to take care of me no matter what. If that is something that would ease your own burdens, I would gladly see you have it for yourself."

"So that's what Bilbo wanted you to talk to me about? About choosing a spouse?"

"Essentially, yes." Thorin looked almost relieved that he'd gotten the point. "A king needs a reliable partner, Fíli, a reliable Comfort. Goodness knows I have an easier time now than I ever did before I met Bilbo, for all that I have a lot more to take care of than I did in our exile. It does not need to be a romantic partner, if you feel more drawn to your craft than love, you would not be the first King to choose a friend as their Comfort and you likely wouldn't be the last. What you do need to keep in mind is that you need someone you can trust no matter what, someone who will always think of your best and see it happen, even when you may not see the benefit at first."

"Someone who'll take care of me whether I want it or not? But I can still trust them not to abuse that power?" Fíli paused. "Yeah, I think I can find someone like that."

The remaining apple was heavy in his pocket, but it was a rather comforting weight.


End file.
